Allogeneic bone marrow chimerism in germ-free mice. IV. Therapy of "Hodgkin's-like" reticulum cell sarcoma in SJL mice.

"Hodgkin's-like reticulum cell sarcoma develops spontaneously in most SJL mice. Germ-free and conventional SJL mice bearing advanced reticulum cell sarcoma were treated with X-irradiation and transplantation of bone marrow from SJL or C3H/He donors. The 120-day survival rate of germ-free mice receiving allogeneic bone marrow (70%) exceeded that of all control groups; more importantly, germ-free mice that survived more than 4 months after treatment with allogeneic cells had no evidence of neoplastic lesions when killed. The germ-free environment effectively prevented graft-versus-host disease that was lethal to conventional mice. The results of these experiments offer additional evidence that bone marrow transplantation can be used as a therapeutic tool for spontaneous murine neoplasms.